Bilbao is one of the most comfortable capitals to get about in if you are in a wheelchair. There are lowered curbs, ramps on each bridge so you can enjoy both sides of the estuary and wide pavements and walks enable you to get around without limits.

Wheelchair Accessible Hotel

The Gran Bilbao Hotel is a hotel that has been adapted to perfection. Its parking has spacious bays and the large lifts allow direct access to all floors of the hotel. If you prefer not to rely on lifts, it is possible to leave the car on floor 0, in a disabled parking bay where a ramp from the street and automatic door make it easy to enter and arrive straight at the reception. Once inside, all communal spaces are easy to enter and wheelchair accessible.

A day of sightseeing in Bilbao needs a good rest either before it or afterwards and for this, a good room makes a difference. The hotel has rooms adapted for wheelchairs with everything we think you’ll need. The special door width allows entrance to a fully fitted bathroom adapted to accommodate the wheelchair, plus a safety mirror, parquet floor and shower with safety screen.

Bilbao, an accessible destination

Touring Bilbao in a wheelchair is surprising. The Casco Viejo (old town), a few minutes from the Gran Bilbao Hotel, is our first stop. Start your wheels turning in the network of alleys that you can get lost in, then take a break and try their exquisite pintxos (snacks). From there you can take the tram but beforehand pass through the Mercado de La Ribera, the largest covered market in Europe that has ramps and lifts for you to discover Bilbao’s rich cuisine.

Let’s dedicate a few hours to art. The Guggenheim Museum (with a certificate for the implementation of a system of global accessibility) and the (Fine Arts) Bellas Artes and Itasmuseum (Maritime Museum), which are also very close to each other, are accessible by ramps inside and have lifts and large areas to move around comfortably. The Fine Arts also has a touch experimentation area for people with visual disabilities and the Itsasmuseum has activities adapted to the different visitors’ needs.

Bilbao and its surroundings

If after your visit to Bilbao you would like to continue exploring, Bilbao’s surroundings are waiting for you with treasures for you to discover. A few kilometres from the capital of Biscay you’ll find beaches adapted for the disabled or you could visit San Sebastián and go along its famous La Concha promenade. And if you have come to Bilbao without a car, the car rental company Irrintzi has adapted cars. As part of their fleet they have a car with the capacity for two wheelchairs and 6 additional seats and another with the capacity for a wheelchair and 4 seats. Both delivery and return of the vehicle can be done conveniently at the Hotel Gran Bilbao.

Bilbao, committed to adapted sport

In Bilbao, we are passionate about sport and committed to it. For the first time we have staged trials in which points awarded count towards the Spanish Cup of Adapted Cycling.

Bizkaia is accessible not only in its cities but in its most natural environment. There is Joëlette chair trekking, go-karting in adapted carts and even surfing!

It is not only Bilbao that is committed to adapted tourism; we at the Gran Bilbao Hotel support and collaborate with the Bidaideak Bilbao BSR wheelchair basketball team. We are proud to sponsor the team, which for the first time in its history was proclaimed European Champion in the adapted basketball Euroleague1. And we love to welcome the players, who usually come to visit us and enjoy the cafeteria and the restaurant, sometimes staying in one of our adapted rooms.

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